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MADRID — Merck is paying billions of dollars to partner with Daiichi Sankyo on a series of cancer drugs, underscoring the excitement around targeted chemotherapy treatments. 

The deal includes a $4 billion upfront payment and an additional $1.5 billion over the next two years. Up to $16.5 billion more is on the table depending on the success of the drugs in development. 

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The announcement on Thursday night in the United States came on the eve of one the cancer field’s biggest annual conferences, the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, being held this year in Madrid. 

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